Merit Network Celebrates NANOG's 50th Meeting, Anticipates Future Changes

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Merit Network, Inc. is pleased to celebrate the 50th meeting of NANOG, the North American Network Operators' Group, October 3-6, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia.

NANOG is an educational forum where the operators of backbone and enterprise networks share information and refine operational best practices. NANOG was formed in 1994 as a forum for information-sharing at a time when the Internet's primary backbone was transitioning from governmental to commercial management. Since that time, NANOG has become a vital meeting point for professionals who make the Internet work. NANOG meetings are held three times each year throughout North America, and the NANOG email discussion list has over 10,000 members.

Since 1994, NANOG has been hosted by Merit Network, which has organized the group's meetings, managed the group's email lists and web site, and provided staffing and support as NANOG has grown and evolved.

In elections to be held during the upcoming meeting, the NANOG community will consider a charter amendment that reflects an expected transition in the NANOG's structure. The proposed charter amendment notes that Merit expects to cease hosting NANOG after NANOG51 (February 2011) and that a newly formed non-profit wishes to assume responsibility for continuing NANOG's activities. The proposed amendment states the community's support for these changes and urges an orderly and effective transition.

Don Welch, Merit's President and CEO, says "Merit is in support of NANOG's transition to an independent organization fully managed by the NANOG community. We are proud of Merit's role in fostering NANOG's growth and success, and are confident that the community can independently continue NANOG's operations into the future. We look forward to working with the community on a transition of NANOG's operations and assets."

Voting on the proposed amendment will begin at noon EDT on Sunday, October 3 and conclude on the morning of Wednesday, October 6. Eligible voters are those who have attended one NANOG meeting in the past two years.

NANOG50 will be hosted locally by Telx, a leading interconnection and colocation provider. The agenda will include tutorials on networking topics, general session presentations on key technical and policy issues, and track sessions with in-depth exploration of critical Internet technologies. Complete information about NANOG, including registration for the Atlanta meeting, is available at:

http://www.nanog.org

About Merit Network

Merit Network Inc., a non-profit corporation owned and governed by Michigan's public universities, owns and operates America's longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, Michigan's public universities created Merit as a resource to help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its formation, Merit Network has remained on the forefront of research and education networking expertise and services. Merit provides high-performance networking solutions to public universities, colleges, K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other non-profit organizations.

SOURCE Merit Network, Inc.